The series, written and directed by Tudyk, is a lighthearted take on the personalities, luminaries, comic book stores, and characters both Tudyk and Fillion have run into during their years in the sci-fi community and convention circuit, while telling the story of a sci-fi actor learning to love and embrace his fans.

Tudyk and Fillion, both starring in the project, will be joined by a crew of sci-fi fan favorites like Sean Maher, Gina Torres, James Gunn, Seth Green, Felicia Day, and Amy Acker with more guest stars being announced throughout the campaign.

Con Man centers around the post-show life of Wray Nerely (Tudyk), the pilot and co-star of SPECTRUM, a sci-fi series which was cancelled before its time and eventually became a cult classic beloved by fans. Wray’s good friend, Jack Moore (Fillion) also starred in the series and has gone on to become a major celebrity, while Wray continued to struggle to find his big break. While Jack enjoys the life of an A-lister, Wray tours the sci-fi circuit as a guest of conventions, comic book stores, and lots of pop culture events.

I had a chance to speak to Alan Tudyk and Nathan Fillion about Con Man and about their idea to bring hardcore fans aboard as producers.

IGN: How did the idea for Con Man start? Was it something that just built up over years of going to conventions?

Fillion: Alan is a treasure trove of fantastic ideas. Some of them have better traction than others. I'm going to bring up Doctor Cop Lawyer. The cop who chases the criminal, shoots the criminal, as a doctor treats the criminal, and then as a lawyer defends the criminal. I thought that was very funny, but maybe short-lived. But when he came up with Con Man, it was something he couldn't stop talking about. And then he started pursuing it. And then he said "I'm writing it." And then he said "Let's sit down and have everybody read it." And then he cast it and we all sat down and read it and it was very funny.

Tudyk: Within Con Man, the central character, the one I play Wray Nerely, was on a sci-fi show ten years prior called Spectrum that was canceled too soon. And his career has now stalled. And in the meantime he goes to comic conventions every free weekend while Nathan's character, Jack Moore, conversely has become a big star. The other cast members have all had different levels of success as well. But as a struggling actor, the idea is that Wray could do Doctor Cop Lawyer. He might get a network job on Doctor Cop Lawyer. So I could, through the backdoor, still make Doctor Cop Lawyer. If we make more of these.

IGN: You mentioned your characters being on a canceled sci-fi show called Spectrum. How much does Con Man blend realty and fiction? Where's the line?

Fillion: I don't think it's really accurate. I mean, Alan was a move star long before he even came to Firefly.

Tudyk: [laughs]

Fillion: At the Firefly read-through I was like "Wow, we got Alan Tudyk. Movies must be really drying up right now because this guy's slumming." But there are times at which Alan writes things that are very vindicating. Things that we actually go through as actors. Obviously, Alan's not on hard times right now. And I'm not Tom Cruise by any means. But at times I think the shadows of these characters line up with real life. And I remember Alan said "I'm writing some episodes and there are some ideas I know that out there. I'm going to do a couple more conventions and come back with some more stories." And he would come back with entire episodes based on the stories he experienced during these conventions. And he'd do them specifically for the show. So they are inspired by real life.

Tudyk: Somewhat. The craziest things and the weirdest characters are the celebrities and the people who work the conventions. I think a lot of people don't know much about sci-fi conventions from the outside looking in. They see the people in costumes and imagine they're the wild fans and that they are weird and strange people. But it's really the people who run the things that are the strangest. And I'm definitely pulling from those characters that I've met. And different experienced that I've had, or that people have had and they've told me. We give the example of the first convention that Nathan and I went to, there were these portraits that were done of us and the fans together. And the guy doing the pictures, his finger would cramp. The one thing he needed to work. It wasn't even a cramp, it was some other issue. And he had this champagne bucket filled with ice there for the sole purpose of soaking his hand. And he'd have to stop and say [English accent] "Oh, I'm so sorry. I'm in deep pain. We all have to take a break for 20 minutes. I'd like some Prosecco and a chair." And he became the center of attention for as long as we were taking pictures.

Fillion: He'd soak his hand and then turn around to make sure you were watching him soak his hand.

Tudyk: [laughs] That's right.

Fillion: He was wonderful though. It was fantastic. These people are not terrible people by any means. But they are characters. And the people who go to these conventions, they look forward to it all year, and they say "I'm going to wear this costume, I'm going to buy this comic book, I'm going to make sure I see this panel." They are essentially visitors. But there is a culture of people for whom the Con is everything. They do a Con in this city, then in that city, then in another city. They run these conventions. They're organizing them. And it is a bizarre little society. And it is fascinating. And it is brilliant. And they are passionate. And they are a little bit crazy sometimes, but it is fantastic.

Nathan Fillion as Spectrum's Jack Moore.

IGN: Sean Maher, Felicia Day, Seth Green, Amy Acker. You already have some great names attached to Con Man. Can you talk a bit about the roles they'll be playing?

Tudyk: I can say Sean Maher is playing a role I wrote called "Sean Maher." So there will be actors who are playing themselves because they are a part of that world. And then there will be people like Felicia Day who will appear in the second and the third episode - we're looking to fund the first three episodes, so she'd appear in the second and third - and she would play an assistant. Each time you go to a convention you're given a volunteer who shadows you and helps you out. So she'll play that assistant for Wray Nerely. And she's very enthusiastic. And ultimately saves the day. He doesn't want an assistant but by the end of the first three episodes, she saves the day.

IGN: What was behind the decision to use Indiegogo and bring fans on board as partners?

Tudyk: It's something that just made sense. This world of Cons, of the sci-fi conventions, is built by the fans. And we both wanted a partner who would enjoy being involved. Who knew the world.

Fillion: Who respect the world.

Tudyk: Yeah, who'd respect the world. There are some people in Hollywood who condescend to it. And I've met a lot of those people. They see it from afar. You talk to them and they say "I went to a Comic-Con once." And they wear that as a badge. Like "I know what I'm talking about. I went to the one in San Diego one time. And, wow, what I saw there." Fans are the ones who taught me about it. And it just seems like they already have some ownership to it so it would be great to partner with them.

Fillion: Alan was very specific about not wanting to be partnered up with people who disrespected the fans and disrespected the world. Or looked down on them like "Oh, those weirdos." Or were condescending in any way. That's not what it's about. These people are professionals. They're brilliant. They're NASA engineers. Astronauts. Physicists. Microbiologists. People who know what they're doing and convert their passion. I had a couple people come up to me and say "Were big fans of the show." And what they could do was they built a replica spaceship model. It's gotta be three feet long. It's enormous. It has lights. They licensed it from FOX. They started their own business. They're making over a million dollars a year. They're doing really really well. They are professionals. They are business people. And they are passionate. They're fanatical. They're fans. And those are the people we want.

All fans that contribute to the campaign will have access to exciting and limited edition perks such as an exclusive backer blog, posters, Wray Nerely and Jack Moore headshots, signed Con Man scripts and props, set visits, private screenings and even the chance to be a background character on the show.